Eight million civilians living in 'state of fear' in IS-held territory: UN expert -

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 2 (APP): The Islamic State has engaged in widespread and systematic human rights violations of the most serious kinds in Syria and Iraq, brutally forcing some 8 million people to 'assimilate, flee or face death,' according to a United Nations expert.

US appreciates Pakistan's constructive role in Afghan reconciliation process -

Washington, July 31 (APP): Appreciating Pakistan's constructive role in the Afghan reconciliation process, a U.S. State Department spokesman on Thursday encouraged the Taliban to seize a 'moment of opportunity' to make genuine peace and become part of the legitimate political system of Afghanistan.

UNITED NATIONS, July 31 (APP): Senior diplomats and UN officials at a highly appreciated Pakistan-sponsored panel discussion on the plight of refugees and migrants Thursday called for addressing the root causes of the massive human movements -- conflicts, persecution and poverty -- in a bid to end this grave humanitarian crisis.

ISLAMABAD, Aug 2 (APP): All praises for Pakistan Special Olympians who brought great honours for the country as they continued their habit of winning medals, adding one more gold to their medal tally on the last day of Special World Games held in Los Angeles.

KARACHI, July 31 (APP): Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF)Friday named a 11-member squad for the 22nd Asian Table Tennis Championship being staged at Pattaya (Thailand) from September 26 to September 3.

KARACHI, Oct 13 (APP): The
First Block-52 F-16D aircraft of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) rolled out on Tuesday
at a ceremony held at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics (LM Aero) facility at Dallas -
Fort Worth, Texas USA. An ISPR (PAF) press release issued here on Tuesday
evening said that the Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, Chief of the Air
Staff, Pakistan Air Force, attended the ceremony as the chief guest.

It said that Pakistan had
signed a contract with US Government in September 2006 for supply of 18 Block-52
F-16 C/D aircraft from M/s LM Aero.

These state-of-the-art F-16s
will bolster PAF’s fleet of high tech combat aircraft and will enable it to
undertake wide variety of missions across the entire spectrum of operations.

After completion of testing and
integration of the new system, the first batch of F-16 C/D aircraft is scheduled
to arrive in Pakistan in June 2010, and the delivery of all 18 F-16s is planned
to complete by December 2010.

Speaking on the occasion, ACM
Rao Qamar Suleman said that this programme has seen many ups and downs since
signing of the contract. The rollout of the first aircraft shows that the
programme is on track.

Besides CAS PAF, the ceremony
was also attended by Ms Kay Granger (Member US House of Representatives), Gen
Norton Schwartz (Chief of Staff USAF), General David H Petraeus, Commander
CENTCOM, Hussain Haqqani (Ambassador of Pakistan to the US), Ralph Heath
(President LM Aero), John Larson (VP F-16/F-2/T-50 Programmes) and other
distinguished guests from the US Government, LM Aero and the Government of
Pakistan.